I woke at 5:38am to begin my day after a very dreamy, well slept night. It appeared from the gray out of doors along with the wet streets that it had rained significantly last night. Additionally, I seem to recall waking to the sounds of pounding rain over night sometime.
I was down stairs choking down a vitamin and beginning my exercises by 5:43am. Ten minutes later I was looking for Ykraps to venture outside for our morning walk. As I opened the door to head out I thought that I heard Bella calling my name. I stopped to listen closely but heard nothing else, so I shrugged it off and went on my way. Before I got to the bridge, I heard Mindy call for me to wait that Bella wanted to join me. I smiled, turned, and waited for her to come running my way. It was very cute to see this little three year old running my way at 6am in the morning in her bare feet to walk with me.
She grabbed my hand and said very little. She seemed content just to be along for the walk.
For whatever reason, Ykraps’ shit sack was missing from the porch, so I was relegated to just scooping up his poop and bring it along with us. Bella was disgusted with the personal intrusion. We dumped his pile in the woods along the creek. Back at home I whipped up some coffee and filled Bella’s sippy cup with diluted OJ. Apparently she can’t handle it full strength. To keep her amused, I tuned into the Disney Family channel. I proceeded with my morning routine.
After making my lunch and breakfast I remembered that today was a potluck day at work. My peers and I were springing for the meat as the theme was “summer cookout”. I figured that I’d just save my lunch for tomorrow.
By the time I ate my breakfast, showered and dressed, I had very little time to play around as usual, and because of the rain, I couldn’t retreat outside for any guitar playing. I strummed a few chords inside but didn’t play all that long. After a few giant hugs goodbye, I was out the door for work.
I arrived at work five minutes early – 7:55am. After getting settled it was good to see that we were off to a slower than usual start. I got coffee with a peer and had a discussion about work related matters. A check of my calendar revealed an unanticipated 1130am meeting, and I really wanted to get my oil changed today. It was already closing in on 1030am. I knew that Jiffy Lube could get me in and out in less than ten minutes on a Saturday. I assumed it would be nothing but quicker today. I left without hesitation destined for Jiffy Lube. Long story short, I was back at the office by 11:00am. That’s fast! It’s almost funny how they prop the extras up on your hood/engine as if they’re Carol Merrell on the Price is Right. They go through this repetitive shpiel of trying to up sell and get you to buy easily replaceable items. I dismissed his entire sales advance and quipped, “just and oil change please”. Something new, they have a gentleman that directs the foot traffic so you don’t fall mistakenly into the oil pit. My guess is that some sorry customer fell right into a pit prompting such tactics.
My return to work at 11am left a little time before I needed to be at my meeting. I caught up on some email and work then headed to the 1130am meeting. I took my gym bag so I could head for the gym immediately following the meeting, Te meeting lasted until 12:07pm and I was in the gym ready for my run by 12:15pm. As luck would have it, I got my run in under cloudy but largely non-threatening skies. As I finished, however, the wind was picking up and it was dark to the south. By the time I had showered and made my way back to the 5th floor, a look out the window revealed that an intense storm had befallen us. It was raining heavily and the raining sideways!
Today was potluck day, and I wondered as I approached our center how in the world they were cooking the meat given the crappy weather. After all, today’s theme was “summer cookout”. One of our engineers had brought in his gas grill. Turns out, they called the cafeteria and begged their help. The reluctantly volunteered to cook our meat for us. I threw my low-carb thing out the window for the day and enjoyed the tastes of summer. I had a giant cheeseburger and a brat, along with some pasta salad and chocolate chip cookies. As one might expect, everything was exceptional. These guys can cook!
The afternoon was busy but not ridiculous. We did a tremendous job of staying on top of everything. I left he office around 5:10pm destined for home. I made no stops along the way. Mindy was there when I arrived and it appeared that she had just pulled up. This was Wednesday so it meant that we had a few hours without the kids. Mindy had another load of the kids stuff that needed carried to the basement play area. We made a bout three trips each. After we finished we walked Ykraps together.
When we returned to the house I readied for painting the exterior deck door. I had a five gallon container of Sherwin Williams – diverse beige left over from the Color World paint job three years ago. What I didn’t realize was that this bucket had never been opened. It was full. But after three years, I quickly learned, it had separated into it’s chemical parts and needed mixed. I stirred for about five minutes until it looked like beige paint. I filled a small container from the larger 5 gallon bucket and headed outside to begin. Although it looked right and felt thick, once applied it was apparent that it needed mixed much better. It was applying like colored water. I headed back to the basement and reopened the container and began stirring again. This time I stirred for a good ten minutes trying to pull the thicker ingredients up form the bottom. This time it worked. I was soon painting the door trim and kick plate. The color match scared me since when wet it appeared much lighter. Happily, once it dried it looked almost perfect save for the three years of age on the current finish. Mindy and I talked while I painted. As I finished up, she went in to start some dinner – baked chicken breast and brussel sprouts.
After I cleaned up the brush from the diverse beige paint, I brought up the last of the bright white satin latex I had used inside five years ago. I had to paint the area I repaired after removing the interior trim. Because it was back caulked, it tore away at the drywall while removing. There’s about a quart of the white remaining. Unfortunately, the metal container was rusted and it was difficult to keep the rust or corrosion out of the paint. Frequently, little bits of rust would get caught in the paint leaving a brown streak as I painted. The job was small and took only a few minutes. As I carried the paint can to be basement I detected a drip coming form the bottom of the gallon can. At first I thought that I had dripped it, but later discovered an actual hole in the paint can. I suppose the process of stirring the paint as enough to rip it open. My quick thinking paid off, that and my handy dandy peanut jar collection. I poured the remaining white paint into one of my many clear plastic peanut jars. See Mindy, there are many uses for these jars – at least one of them. J
Just as Mindy and I were cleaning up the drips, Jim, her ex, arrived with the kids. I continued cleaning up the small mess and Mindy went to greet the children and Jim. They were excited to show him their rooms at my house so Mindy kindly showed him around. I suppose it was a little awkward for him, but I have always been a fan of keeping the lines of communication open between us. Jim Stayed for about ten minutes. The kids showed him the yard, their rooms, and the play room. As he was leaving, Mindy said they saw a yellow hummingbird gathering nectar from my thriving purple petunia bed. But by the time I got my camera and headed out the door it had vacated.
After Jim left, Mindy took the kids upstairs to get their pajamas on. Soon they called for me to red their bedtime story. It was after 8:30pm – well past their normal 8pm bedtime. I went up to red anyhow. We read a book about pirates. Soon they were nestled in their beds. Mindy and I went back downstairs where she finalized the meal. Initially I wasn’t hungry after eating so much at the company potluck. But it was 9:00pm and I hadn’t eaten anything since 2:30pm. I still wasn’t that hungry, but I ate anyway. Anytime we can, we eat on the deck. Tonight was no exception. While enjoying our meal, we talked about our transition and how it’s going for each of us. We talked for about twenty minutes, or until she heard the call of Bella. While she went to her side, I cleaned up the small dinner mess. When she came back downstairs she did some internet surfing while I played guitar. Again, Bella asked for her mommy. She wanted to come downstairs to hang with us for a few. She tried reading her books to put herself to sleep but couldn’t. She went and got her guitar and played along with me for a minute. Soon we all were tied and decided to head to bed. Mindy took Bella back to her bed. I brushed my teeth and got in our bed. I was tired and ready for yet another good night’s sleep. I did some reading before going to sleep. Mindy didn’t mind the small light being on. Ten minutes later I turned out the light and went to sleep.
I woke at 5:38am to begin my day after a very dreamy, well slept night. It appeared from the gray out of doors along with the wet streets that it had rained significantly last night. Additionally, I seem to recall waking to the sounds of pounding rain over night sometime.
I was down stairs choking down a vitamin and beginning my exercises by 5:43am. Ten minutes later I was looking for Ykraps to venture outside for our morning walk. As I opened the door to head out I thought that I heard Bella calling my name. I stopped to listen closely but heard nothing else, so I shrugged it off and went on my way. Before I got to the bridge, I heard Mindy call for me to wait that Bella wanted to join me. I smiled, turned, and waited for her to come running my way. It was very cute to see this little three year old running my way at 6am in the morning in her bare feet to walk with me.
She grabbed my hand and said very little. She seemed content just to be along for the walk.
For whatever reason, Ykraps’ shit sack was missing from the porch, so I was relegated to just scooping up his poop and bring it along with us. Bella was disgusted with the personal intrusion. We dumped his pile in the woods along the creek. Back at home I whipped up some coffee and filled Bella’s sippy cup with diluted OJ. Apparently she can’t handle it full strength. To keep her amused, I tuned into the Disney Family channel. I proceeded with my morning routine.
After making my lunch and breakfast I remembered that today was a potluck day at work. My peers and I were springing for the meat as the theme was “summer cookout”. I figured that I’d just save my lunch for tomorrow.
By the time I ate my breakfast, showered and dressed, I had very little time to play around as usual, and because of the rain, I couldn’t retreat outside for any guitar playing. I strummed a few chords inside but didn’t play all that long. After a few giant hugs goodbye, I was out the door for work.
I arrived at work five minutes early – 7:55am. After getting settled it was good to see that we were off to a slower than usual start. I got coffee with a peer and had a discussion about work related matters. A check of my calendar revealed an unanticipated 1130am meeting, and I really wanted to get my oil changed today. It was already closing in on 1030am. I knew that Jiffy Lube could get me in and out in less than ten minutes on a Saturday. I assumed it would be nothing but quicker today. I left without hesitation destined for Jiffy Lube. Long story short, I was back at the office by 11:00am. That’s fast! It’s almost funny how they prop the extras up on your hood/engine as if they’re Carol Merrell on the Price is Right. They go through this repetitive shpiel of trying to up sell and get you to buy easily replaceable items. I dismissed his entire sales advance and quipped, “just and oil change please”. Something new, they have a gentleman that directs the foot traffic so you don’t fall mistakenly into the oil pit. My guess is that some sorry customer fell right into a pit prompting such tactics.
My return to work at 11am left a little time before I needed to be at my meeting. I caught up on some email and work then headed to the 1130am meeting. I took my gym bag so I could head for the gym immediately following the meeting, Te meeting lasted until 12:07pm and I was in the gym ready for my run by 12:15pm. As luck would have it, I got my run in under cloudy but largely non-threatening skies. As I finished, however, the wind was picking up and it was dark to the south. By the time I had showered and made my way back to the 5th floor, a look out the window revealed that an intense storm had befallen us. It was raining heavily and the raining sideways!
Today was potluck day, and I wondered as I approached our center how in the world they were cooking the meat given the crappy weather. After all, today’s theme was “summer cookout”. One of our engineers had brought in his gas grill. Turns out, they called the cafeteria and begged their help. The reluctantly volunteered to cook our meat for us. I threw my low-carb thing out the window for the day and enjoyed the tastes of summer. I had a giant cheeseburger and a brat, along with some pasta salad and chocolate chip cookies. As one might expect, everything was exceptional. These guys can cook!
The afternoon was busy but not ridiculous. We did a tremendous job of staying on top of everything. I left he office around 5:10pm destined for home. I made no stops along the way. Mindy was there when I arrived and it appeared that she had just pulled up. This was Wednesday so it meant that we had a few hours without the kids. Mindy had another load of the kids stuff that needed carried to the basement play area. We made a bout three trips each. After we finished we walked Ykraps together.
When we returned to the house I readied for painting the exterior deck door. I had a five gallon container of Sherwin Williams – diverse beige left over from the Color World paint job three years ago. What I didn’t realize was that this bucket had never been opened. It was full. But after three years, I quickly learned, it had separated into it’s chemical parts and needed mixed. I stirred for about five minutes until it looked like beige paint. I filled a small container from the larger 5 gallon bucket and headed outside to begin. Although it looked right and felt thick, once applied it was apparent that it needed mixed much better. It was applying like colored water. I headed back to the basement and reopened the container and began stirring again. This time I stirred for a good ten minutes trying to pull the thicker ingredients up form the bottom. This time it worked. I was soon painting the door trim and kick plate. The color match scared me since when wet it appeared much lighter. Happily, once it dried it looked almost perfect save for the three years of age on the current finish. Mindy and I talked while I painted. As I finished up, she went in to start some dinner – baked chicken breast and brussel sprouts.
After I cleaned up the brush from the diverse beige paint, I brought up the last of the bright white satin latex I had used inside five years ago. I had to paint the area I repaired after removing the interior trim. Because it was back caulked, it tore away at the drywall while removing. There’s about a quart of the white remaining. Unfortunately, the metal container was rusted and it was difficult to keep the rust or corrosion out of the paint. Frequently, little bits of rust would get caught in the paint leaving a brown streak as I painted. The job was small and took only a few minutes. As I carried the paint can to be basement I detected a drip coming form the bottom of the gallon can. At first I thought that I had dripped it, but later discovered an actual hole in the paint can. I suppose the process of stirring the paint as enough to rip it open. My quick thinking paid off, that and my handy dandy peanut jar collection. I poured the remaining white paint into one of my many clear plastic peanut jars. See Mindy, there are many uses for these jars – at least one of them. J
Just as Mindy and I were cleaning up the drips, Jim, her ex, arrived with the kids. I continued cleaning up the small mess and Mindy went to greet the children and Jim. They were excited to show him their rooms at my house so Mindy kindly showed him around. I suppose it was a little awkward for him, but I have always been a fan of keeping the lines of communication open between us. Jim Stayed for about ten minutes. The kids showed him the yard, their rooms, and the play room. As he was leaving, Mindy said they saw a yellow hummingbird gathering nectar from my thriving purple petunia bed. But by the time I got my camera and headed out the door it had vacated.
After Jim left, Mindy took the kids upstairs to get their pajamas on. Soon they called for me to red their bedtime story. It was after 8:30pm – well past their normal 8pm bedtime. I went up to red anyhow. We read a book about pirates. Soon they were nestled in their beds. Mindy and I went back downstairs where she finalized the meal. Initially I wasn’t hungry after eating so much at the company potluck. But it was 9:00pm and I hadn’t eaten anything since 2:30pm. I still wasn’t that hungry, but I ate anyway. Anytime we can, we eat on the deck. Tonight was no exception. While enjoying our meal, we talked about our transition and how it’s going for each of us. We talked for about twenty minutes, or until she heard the call of Bella. While she went to her side, I cleaned up the small dinner mess. When she came back downstairs she did some internet surfing while I played guitar. Again, Bella asked for her mommy. She wanted to come downstairs to hang with us for a few. She tried reading her books to put herself to sleep but couldn’t. She went and got her guitar and played along with me for a minute. Soon we all were tied and decided to head to bed. Mindy took Bella back to her bed. I brushed my teeth and got in our bed. I was tired and ready for yet another good night’s sleep. I did some reading before going to sleep. Mindy didn’t mind the small light being on. Ten minutes later I turned out the light and went to sleep.
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